Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 62
Chapter 62 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
道者萬物之奧。善人之寶，不善人之所保。美言可以市，尊行可以加人。人之不善，何棄之有？故立天子，置三公，雖有拱璧以先駟馬，不如坐進此道。古之所以貴此道者何？不曰：以求得，有罪以免耶？故為天下貴。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
The Way is the hidden sanctuary of the ten thousand things.It is the good person’s treasure, and the shelter of the person who is not good.Fine words may be traded; honored conduct may raise one above others.If a person is not good, why should that person be cast away?Thus, when the Son of Heaven is enthroned and the three ministers installed, though a jade disk clasped in two hands is presented before a team of four horses, it is not as good as presenting this Way while seated.Why did the ancients prize this Way?Was it not said: by seeking, you receive; having guilt, you escape?Therefore it is prized by all under Heaven.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
The Way is the deep shelter where all things gather.Good people treasure it; those who are not good are sheltered by it.Fine words can fetch a price; honored conduct can raise one above others.Why cast aside those who are not good?So at the enthronement of the Son of Heaven and the installation of the three great ministers, even a jade disc borne in both hands before a four-horse team cannot match offering this Way while seated.Why was this Way so precious to the ancients?Was it not said: through it, one seeks and finds; through it, the guilty go free?That is why the whole world prizes it above all.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1.
Tao has of all things the most honoured place.No treasures give good men so rich a grace;Bad men it guards, and doth their ill efface.
2. (Its) admirable words can purchase honour; (its) admirable deeds can raise their performer above others. Even men who are not good are not abandoned by it.
3. Therefore when the sovereign occupies his place as the Son of Heaven, and he has appointed his three ducal ministers, though (a prince) were to send in a round symbol-of-rank large enough to fill both the hands, and that as the precursor of the team of horses (in the court-yard), such an offering would not be equal to (a lesson of) this Tao, which one might present on his knees.
4. Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much? Was it not because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty could escape (from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why all under heaven consider it the most valuable thing.